Vancouver – Today, the BC Government Rental Housing Task Force released a set of recommendations with no meaningful protections for renters in BC. The Community Legal Assistance Society (CLAS), along with other tenants’ rights advocacy organizations and countless renters and housing insecure British Columbians participated in a consultative process and submitted recommendations and comments; a vast majority of which were ignored.

“The recommendations released today are disconcerting given the endemic housing crisis experienced by renters in our province. They fail to address any significant or substantive legal change or reform needed to increase tenant protection and housing security of tenure for renters,” says Danielle Sabelli, a CLAS lawyer.

The top priorities offered by tenants’ rights and advocacy groups were effectively ignored, instead, the recommendations re-enforce the status quo in the interest of landlords and developers.

“We are very disappointed that the Rental Housing Task Force has chosen to disregard the gravity of the impact of the housing crisis on tenants and particularly marginalized tenants, by completely ignoring the recommendations that would ensure protections.”